AT&T Increases Upgrade Fee for Certain Smartphones

Well, this news is a bit depressing for folks on AT&T's network. The company has just announced that it is increasing its upgrade fee for anyone who gets a new smartphone before their contract is up. How big of an increase is it? Well, its going from $75 to $200 for the early upgrade. That's right, you will have to pay $200 if you want to upgrade to a new smartphone ahead of your scheduled upgrade date. The only phones affected seem to be BlackBerrys and Androids, while other phones will still carry the $75 fee. The iPhone is typically treated as a special case by AT&T, especially since it waived the upgrade fee when the phone was announced this summer. The reason BlackBerrys and Android phones are getting the big spike is due to the increasing cost of these phones, which with the phones costing nearly $200 or more on contract I can't see too many people happy to pay another $200 just to get the phone they want earlier than usual. Time will tell if this new strategy pans out and if it does, whether any of the other carriers will follow suit.